South Park: "The Cissy"Review

This week's South Park turned its eye to gender identity, using -- yep, you guessed it -- Cartman to stoke the proverbial flames. I admit, at the very start of the episode, I was a little worried that Matt and Trey were going for something else there for a minute, but the transgender issue was a good way to go with it, particularly alongside Cartman's latest scheme to get his own personal school bathroom by pretending to be transgendered. But even more amusing I think was the fact that Mr. Garrison forewarned his colleagues ahead of time that Cartman -- or rather, "Erica" -- already had them on the topical ropes. In this way, the episode was able to subvert expectations by giving Cartman exactly what he wanted right from the get-go (while also offering an amusing explanation for the differences between "transgender" and "cisgender").

Such as it is, the conflict here didn't stem from Cartman's ongoing manipulation, but rather from his plan slowly falling apart before his very eyes. Honestly though, this left the main storyline feeling a little watered down, as Wendy predictably thwarted Cartman's ploy by coming in the next day dressed as "Wendell." That said, Cartman's eventual downfall did pair up nicely with Stan's own sexual confusion after being called a "cissy," as well as his storyline with Randy.

Wendell, you rascal you.

In another intriguing bit of serialization, "The Cissy" picked up a storyline from last week's episode in regards to Randy dressing up as Lorde at the boys' party. Originally, the joke was pretty obvious: After the boys were unable to secure Lorde for their party (duh), Randy stepped in and pretended to be Lorde himself. As I understand it, that was supposed to be the end of that, so it's uncertain if the Lorde storyline this week was always going to be in play. However, that joke was misconstrued in this recent Spin article -- hence the otherwise confusing subplot with the fast-talking Spin Magazine reporter.

In truth, this B story might have been a little too inside baseball for the casual viewer, especially if they hadn't seen the article. (Luckily, someone pointed it out to me after the fact, or else I probably would have missed it too.) Still, the actual Lorde elements at play were somewhat amusing, at least a bit more so than the original joke in "Gluten Free Ebola." The Auto-Tune bit, for example, was pretty funny. I also quite enjoyed Sharon's heartfelt speech to Randy, knowingly hinting to him that he should embrace his Lorde persona. Almost certainly this was a metaphor for transgender acceptance, if not a literal reference to it. Personally, I kinda liked the ambiguity of it, with Randy noting at one point that the women at his work weren't comfortable sharing a bathroom "with... what?"

I will say, if nothing else, Season 18 has been unique so far in that it continues to make allusions to previous and future episodes, from direct callbacks, like this week's Lorde storyline, to subtle mentions of gluten-free beer and Butters' suspension. (Seriously, what's the deal with that?) In a way, I feel like this season might be building towards something big. The fact that the first three episodes have all been loosely connected to one another would seem to indicate an underlying arc at play. On the other hand, it could just be Matt and Trey screwing with us. Who knows?

The Verdict

This week's South Park went back to basics with Cartman, who exploited yet another PC hot button -- in this case, gender identity -- to get his way at school. However, the more entertaining (and thought-provoking) storyline this week was the continuation of Randy as Lorde. While the "what" and "why" of this storyline remains somewhat unclear, it did offer several amusing moments, and it actually probably said more about gender identity than Cartman's storyline did.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.